The Labour Party has decided to adopt as its next election broadcast the well-received film used before Gordon Brown’s conference speech, called Against the Odds, Newstatesman.com has learned.
The two-and-a-half-minute broadcast, praised as “moving” by Labour delegates and journalists alike, runs through a brief history of the labour movement’s leading figures, from Keir Hardie to Gordon Brown.
It begins with the words “It’s the fighters and believers who change our world”, and goes on to say that although it was said the son of a miner could never become a minister, “no one told Nye Bevan“, a reference to the working-class architect of the National Health Service. Later the film moves into images of Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, John Smith, Tony Blair and Brown with the words: “So here’s to the fighters.”
The decision by Labour to capitalise on the film is a victory for bloggers, especially the student Ellie Gellard who has been leading the campaign to persuade Labour to adopt the film on her site, The Stilettoed Socialist. Party insiders say it is indicative of an enhanced listening process aimed at grassroots campaigning, including on the blogs.
Miss Gellard, who describes herself as a “Bevanite”, has won the support of Alastair Campbell and Eddie Izzard in her attempts to have the film used as the next Party Election Broadcast (PEB).
The decision to go ahead was taken during a conference call on Friday afternoon and is likely to be formally announced later today.
Miss Gellard says on her blog: “In a blogosphere dominated by right wing, angry men, I feel a certain responsibility to counteract or merely dilute their poison with a different viewpoint.”
Sign up to the New Statesman newsletter and receive weekly updates from the team
Content from our partners
Related
